The Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran impose corporal punishment for a significant
number of crimes. Articles 386 to 416 contain regulations allowing the imposition of a range of
punishment under qesas-e ozv (retaliation for injured limb or body part).38 Such punishments
include amputation of limbs, cutting of body parts and blinding. Under Article 278 of the Penal
Code, the crime of theft, when meeting certain conditions,39 is sentenced with “amputation of the
full length of four fingers of the right hand of the thief […]”.40 At least 149 crimes continue to be
punishable by flogging in Iran such as: consumption of alcohol, drug use and petty drug dealing,
theft, adultery, “flouting” of public morals, illegitimate relationships, and mixing of the sexes in
public.41
Although in 2002 then-Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Shahroudi issued a ban on stoning,42 it
remains as a punishment for act of adultery by a woman and a man who meet the condition of
ehsan43 under the Islamic Penal Code (2013).44 In 2007, the Iranian judiciary confirmed that a
man who had been convicted of adultery 10 years earlier was stoned to death in Qazvin
province.45 The practice reportedly further continued despite the issuance of the ban.46 47 In 2013
the spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s Justice Commission confirmed that while the Penal
Code no longer prescribes stoning, it remains a valid punishment under Shari’a law, which is
enforceable under the Penal Code.48
38
Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2013) as referenced in “Flawed Reforms: Iran’s next Code of Criminal
Procedure”, Amnesty International, 2016, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1327082016ENGLISH.PDF
39
The conditions stipulated under this provision include but are not limited to the following: “The stolen property has a
legitimate value”, “the stolen property was placed in herz [a secure place]”, “the thief breached the herz [the secure place]”, and
“the theft was not committed in a time of famine” Article 268, Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2013), Iran
Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
40
Article 278 Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2013) Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran
Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
41
For a list of acts punishable by flogging in Iranian law, see: Abdorrahman Boroumand Center
https://www.iranrights.org/library/document/3643
42
European Parliament Report, 2003, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A52003-0334+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
43
The condition of ehsan is described under Article 226 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code, English translation, Iran Human Rights
Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
44
Article 225, Islamic Penal Code (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
45
Radio Farda report: < https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f1_stoning_Iran/401521.html >
46
Iran Human Rights, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/603/
47
Radio Farda report: < https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f7_Stoninig_3_men_in_Iran/479480.html >
48
Mohamadali Esfanani, in an interview with Fars News Agency that Radio Zamaneh reported it:
<https://www.radiozamaneh.com/53576 >
7